LOVE. So much has been written about this four letter word. It is the essence of the heart chakra. When we feel safe and secure, feel like we are on our own path, and that we are allowed to be our own individual self, love flows freely.
Fourth chakra basics
Anahata, or “unstruck”, is the balancing point of the energy body. It’s meaning, is that of forgiveness, of letting go of past hurts once we have allowed them to be felt and processed. It is both physical and spiritual in nature, and is the meeting point of body and spirit. This is the space where we receive our inner knowing. Our truth. Our answers. Many cultures when asked to point to their mind, point to the head, and others, point to the heart. Where is your true inner knowing? Ask and listen. Your heart will show you the way.
Located from the fingertips, through the arms, the shoulders, shoulder blades and upper back, chest, sternum, lungs, thymus, and heart; the heart chakra encompasses our circulatory system and fuels our entire body, every cell with love, or at least it can. Any physical discomfort or imbalance in this area shows us there is a block or an imbalance in the heart chakra. Pay attention to your body. It holds so much information about your mind, emotions, and conscious and subconscious experiences.
The demon of the heart chakra is grief. Life provides a myriad of reasons to experience grief. My dad passed December 23, 2023. Watching him suffer for months was so painful. The grief was so raw, and all of it needed to be felt. The suffocating power of grief is real. Don’t pretend it isn’t there. Give yourself the time you need to process your grief, but still allow the love to flow.
Loneliness is one of the deficient imbalances of the heart chakra. Codependency and suffocating others with neediness is an excess. Needing to save your loved ones from their lessons isn’t love, it’s not trusting them to get what they need. Give yourself permission to acknowledge that healing your heart will allow true connection. Intentionally choose compassion and empathy, and err on the side of caution using discernment rather than judgment.
The heart knows what it wants… and sometimes that’s to be walled off and armored up so that it doesn’t get hurt… again. Whether we are conscious of it or not, most of us have had a heart wall or two (or, ahem, infinite amounts). The key is gently allowing yourself to be aware of them, and to become conscious of their purpose, so that you can use your power to free yourself. Sometimes it’s the heart itself, sometimes it’s the mind (or the subconscious mind), sabotaging your goals and plans. But it all has a purpose if you let it.
Yoga philosophy teaches that our true self, is the divine light of awareness, and that love flows at the core of all of us. Sometimes it gets buried behind barriers of fear, walls of hurt, and scar tissue filled with pain. Allow the wound to be the place where the light enters (Rumi). Shine light on it, give and receive love, and allow healing to take place.
Healing the heart chakra
Healing practices for the heart chakra: meditate on love. Not fear. Love. Not worry. Love. The healing, protective power of love is the highest energetic vibration out there. Your loved ones feel whatever you’re holding in your heart where they are concerned. So the grief, the worry, the fear, the anger? That’s 2nd chakra. Go back and feel it. Process it, give yourself permission to understand and take time to work through it, but leave it out of your heart. The heart is for love, compassion, and forgiveness. If you’re still feeling hurt or anger from a past hurt, find a way to process it, and then let that shit go. Bye Felicia! Forgive. You’ll feel lighter and brighter both physically, and emotionally.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean that the harm inflicted (intentional or unintentional) is acceptable, it means we choose to no longer hold onto the pain of it. Sometimes we forgive others so that we can let go of the past and move forward, and sometimes the person we need to forgive most is ourselves. So, I forgive myself, and if you haven’t, I invite you to do the same. True forgiveness is the healing key to the heart chakra energy. It’s what releases us from the suffocating pain of grief, resentment, sadness, fear, worry, and anger, which often come in layers. The Buddha said: “holding onto anger is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die.” Christ said: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Other heart healing practices? Give and receive hugs (or literally give and receive anything, our arms are meant to do both, do it with loving intention). Spend time in nature. Send an intentional text. Tell your loved ones that you love them, in whatever way feels most authentic to you. Show up when you say you will. Let others show up for you. If you have a hard time expressing love, tune in for the 5th chakra! Also: service, practicing gratitude (because what you put your focus on grows), and breathwork.
The homework I most often give my students? “Go love yourself.” Same with my clients. Sometimes it’s helpful to come up with specific things to practice with the intention of feeling and experiencing self-love; sometimes it’s just the intention itself. So much of the pain we inflict upon ourselves is unconsciously fueled. The way we treat our bodies. The way we talk to ourselves in negative thought loops that often go unnoticed. The subconscious patterns of fear and doubt, guilt and shame that block us from truly loving ourselves, and by default, stop us from truly loving others. The key to healing? Forgiveness and intentionally practicing self-love to repattern and rewire. Do something you love, something you’re passionate about every day. Find more of what you love, and then do it.
Finally, if there’s an unhealed resentment, frustration, or sense of something unresolved that you’re ready to step out of, repeat after me: “Thank you for the lessons and growth through the joyful moments, I forgive you for the ones that created pain.” On both ends of the spectrum, we receive what we need when we allow it in, and it’s helpful to always acknowledge the growth that comes from everything we experience. Take the lesson, and dump the pain as fertilizer, right where it belongs.
Heart chakra affirmations
~I love myself.
~I am worthy of love
~I am loved.
~I give and receive love easily.
~I feel loved.
~I easily forgive.
~I forgive myself.
~I can be compassionate towards others and not judge them.
What do you do to show yourself that you are worth love? Because you are. It’s the sacred right of the fourth chakra. Comment below your favorite way to practice self-love, and share one thing you do to share love with others.
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